#613 - Bear Grylls on Running Wild with Celebrities, Climbing Mt. Everest & the Unexpected TV Friendships

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. I don't always promise to return people without any scratches or scrapes or bruises, but we generally try and keep people alive, yeah. Okay today we're going to talk with Bear Grylls, one of the most recognizable faces in Adventure and Survival, a former 21 special air service soldier. He's climbed Mount Everest. He was 23 years old when he did that. Military author, man versus wild, running wild with Bear Grylls, which I've done that show twice. I do know Bear a little bit. Many, many. Five, six, seven years ago I got a call that says, do you want to do running wild with Bear Grylls? And I thought that was crazy, and I thought, I wonder what mountain nearby will go climb. So I said yes to it, and they say you're going to Norway. And so I got on a flight. I flew to Norway. We were so delayed that as soon as I landed, there was no meeting. I took off right into the Norway wilderness. I believe it was like the fjords of Norway. And so there was no introduction. I never even met Bear until I started the first episode that I did with him. And while I was on my route, he joined. I came into my helicopter as he often does, and we started. And what I remember about being in Norway is it was really cold. We had to go through a lot of water. We did find a rotted sheep, because the food you find out there is the food you eat. And so there was a sheep in the water, and the top of it that was exposed to the air was rotted. But the bottom of it, underneath the water, was preserved. So we drug it out of the water. You can see all this in the episode. We drug it out of the water. We cut all the rotted meat off of it. Now I think what surprise Bear was, when you look at me, you see, I don't know what you see, but kind of like Weezer, Buddy Holly, Nerdy Guy, but I grew up in Arkansas and I hunted a lot. So I know how to skin an animal. And so he was, okay, this, I was like, I got this. So I'm down chopping. That's what we had for dinner. And in the episode, we eat it. It didn't taste very good. It wasn't bad, but we don't walk around with like salt and pepper in our pockets. Nor did we know we were going to find this rotted sheep. And I had friends say, when you saw the rotted sheep, did they tell you it was there or did you see it? I said, guys, nothing was planted. I spotted the sheep and I can't see anything. And so we got the sheep, went off some cliffs. We actually stay out in the wilderness. We talk about this coming up in a second. There is no hotel. There's nothing except we stayed right in the woods where we were. It was the first time I was ever in a helicopter at the very end of my episode, whenever we're leaving, spoiler alert, I lived when we're leaving. We're getting on this helicopter and I think I'm getting in and I'm not getting in. They clipped me to the side of the helicopter where I'm just standing on that kind of rail and the helicopter goes up and whips around a mountain is crazy. So finished that show is pretty nuts. I ended up getting a show on that geo because I was very fortunate the ratings of my episode were really good. So I thought, man, that was fun. Bear was awesome. I don't think I'm going to do that again. But at the time, about a year and a half or so later, I was engaged and they called back and they said, hey, we want you to come back on the show. Well, when I was on the show the first time, I had pretty much given on my life story. So I really didn't have anything else to say because that show is you do some crazy stuff but you also share your life and you have this moment and I had my moment. I shared my life. I almost died. All that stuff happened. I said, I really don't have anything that I feel comfortable doing the second time because I know so much is about the personal journey. I think I shared it all. And they said, would you bring your fiance? I was like, there is no chance. The last thing she wants to do is be on television. And what happened was I got very fortunate because I was a little timid about even asking my now wife, my fiance at the time to do the show because I knew she had no interest in being on television in any way. I was very fortunate that she was in therapy that day with a therapist. And there are some negatives for her being in a relationship with me in that she's not a very public person but sometimes she has to deal with scrutiny anyway. She doesn't put herself out there yet. People still will say mean things to her. We'll go through her. We'll do. And so in her therapist session, as I remember the story, her therapist was like, hey, you're dealing with a lot of the stuff that's not good from this relationship. Like if something comes up that would be fun or different, you should also benefit from some of the good things in this relationship. This had happened right before I asked her. And I said, do you want to go? And I was kind of like, I know you're not going to want to do this, but do you want to go do Running Wild with Bear Grylls? They've ever at the time only had one other person that had done two episodes and it was Channing Tatum. I said, they've asked me to come back for a second time. And so that's an honor for me, but I don't have a story. But if we do it together, it's kind of a different story. She was in a good place and she said, yeah, I'll do it. I was like, what? And so immediately I called him and said, we're in. Because then once we agreed, I knew she couldn't back out. And so we go up into these mountains in Northern California and it was the coldest I've ever been in my whole life. And I've been in some really cold places. And we're going off cliffs. And if you Google it, you can find these episodes. We're going off the side of cliffs, but it was a whole different thing because I kind of knew what to expect. And the expectation is that you're constantly going to be challenged and you're going to be afraid the whole time. You just don't know what you're about to run into. But because I knew that, it did give me a half a leg up. So the first time, I scared to death in Norway. The second time with her, mostly I was just trying to help her get through it because she was experiencing it, how I was experiencing it the first time. And so a lot of growth in the first episode. That second one with her and myself, it was really crazily amazing in a different way. I remember when we were starting the second episode, we didn't see Bear. And they start us off and they put us in this little cart with a map on top of a mountain. And we have to follow this map to get down to this X. We haven't seen Bear yet. And as soon as we get down, there's this paraglider. You never know how Bear's going to enter. A paraglider just comes flying in and it's Bear on one of those contraptions. He lands and he's like, all right, there's a helicopter coming over the top. And they drop one of those ladders. And so the helicopter right above with the ladder on. And he's like, okay, we get down. And I'm thinking we're going to climb the ladder to get in the helicopter. Again, I guess I'm dumb because all he did was clip us to the bottom of the ladder and the helicopter takes off. And that's what we did. We were flying to the top of a mountain hanging on the ladder of the helicopter, all three of us. Like a really cool picture that I have in our house is this helicopter, this massive mountain in California. And the ladder down and Bear is clipped to one rung. Kalen is clipped to the rung underneath. And I'm clipped to the rung on the very bottom. And it is a wild picture. But we had no idea that was going to happen. And one of the reasons they don't tell you what's going to happen is you won't do it. They don't tell you you're about to go off a cliff, but to be in a helicopter holding on for your dear life. They don't tell you one of mine had to go through this river with this, you know, raging river with a stick. They don't tell you this stuff because you'll start to think about it and get freaked out. But man, both both experiences were amazing. And we talk about this a little bit coming up. Both evenings just hanging out with Bear were really special because you're five, six hours at night out in the wilderness. You're just at a fire and you're just talking. And so anytime you do that, obviously, if you like the person, you grow a lot closer. So it was really fortunate to have both of those experiences with somebody that I really enjoyed and someone who my wife also loves as well. And so that show has had all these iterations. It's now back on Fox. He's taken some of the biggest stars on the whole planet into the wild for 48 hours of real world challenge. And again, the conversations are really what it's all about because man, once you are scared, you're vulnerable. You can get so vulnerable because you depend on Bear for everything. And so it was a really fun experience for me twice. Again, though, it was the coldest that that with my fiance at the time, my wife now, it was the coldest. And we were like in a little cave type thing. And they gave us two sleeping bags, but one of the sleeping bags ripped. And again, there's no store. And I remember it being negative four degrees. And that's what we were. And so we were like body heat over. It was the coldest I've ever been in my whole life. It was not a fancy hotel. Man, think it back. My nipples were freezing. So we're going to talk to Bear now. There's a new season on Fox. Bear Girls is running wild. He's currently on the Never Give Up Live World Tour. Here he is, a guy that I have such an affinity for. The great Bear Girls. Let us welcome. I would clap it up by myself. Bear Girls is here. Bear, good to see you, old friend. Hey, nice to see you. This doesn't feel like work. That's nice. I've had a busy few days of Presta, but speaking to you, old friends, good times. I would say a bit of the same. This has been a blender of a week as well. And I thought, man, I have not talked to Bear in such a long time. I'm actually looking forward to this one. So it's really good to see your face. Thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah. How are things? How are you guys? Look, so much has happened. I always had a baby. I know. I know. Yeah. Remind me of your little one's name. Her name is Billy. And so, you know, it's pretty crazy. And Caitlin says hello. And for those that don't know, Caitlin and I, we did Bear show together. And we love, and she loved Bear so much. We invited you to the wedding. But you obviously have it all around the world schedule. But that's the affinity we have for you, Bear. So, Caitlin. You are so kind. And Shar and me were so touched. You asked us. And that was such a special journey to get to do together. And I'm just so happy you've gone from strength to strength in not just, you know, work, but also in your wonderful family and having Billy. That's great. You're no nicer couple on the planet. You guys, you rock. Yeah. We were just engaged at the time. We were with you. That feels like 10 years ago, but also yesterday at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. I was talking to Rob Riggle and Rob and I are two of the few that have done the show twice with you. We're in that very, very small club of the duos. I didn't realize Rob was such a big dude. Rob is a big dude. Rob is great. He's wonderful. We did it. We did. Who else we done? We tried Channing Tatum. We've done two running miles with, but yeah, it's a small, it's a small club, but Rob is Rob's, he's a light. I would describe him as he's a light kernel of the Marines as well. So he has sort of good, good fun chatting about Marine days and he, he's always up for an adventure. He has that beautiful ability to laugh at himself always and he takes, takes himself very on serice, but he's, he's great. You know, he's a fighter and what a wonderful man. So you're back. This time you're on Fox. So what's the difference here? What do we do? We're still out doing crazy stuff. I saw Matthew McConaughey was, was the first episode. Like what, what's the theme here? Yeah, well season nine, I mean, if somebody said we'd get to season nine, we're just casting season 10 at the moment. I mean, it's been such a privilege. It really has. And it's, it's such a fun show. You know, for so many years I did a man versus wild, but I was always on my own and, you know, small, small crew, but in terms of on camera on my own and running wild, really rejuvenated so much of my life. Cause it's, it's such a privilege to introduce regular people to the outdoors and people who've never done anything like that before. And, and I love it. And it goes to strength to strength. Fox is a great home for it. And yeah, I mean, I look at it, I think we've got better guests, you know, this year than ever. It's like it still stays top tier in that sense. And I don't know a journalist said to me, yes, they said, how come you always get such good guests? And I really think the answer to that is because the wild is a real star. You know, it's like, that is the appeal. People, you know, you or Matthew McConaughey or whoever it is, you know, it's not about the money or the fame. You know, people want the experience that the outdoors can give. And as you know, it lights people up and then it opens people up and you get to see these stars that often, you know, from movies or TV or whatever it is in a way that's, you know, totally unusual. I mean, yours was different because your, your sort of brand is so sort of based on just truly being yourself and sharing your life. And, you know, you do that so beautifully. But I think if you're just a Hollywood star, people are quite guarded and they don't do a lot of these sort of things. But I think it's the experience that people want. And that's what draws people to, to running wild. And I never take that for granted. It's a, it's a great privilege and very grateful. Are there any times where you're with someone and you're told they are really famous, but because you're gone so much, you really don't know of their work. You just take the person's word that they're really famous. Happens, happens lots. So she's been also for many years, remember, I did the show in China and in India. So I would really be taking stars that I didn't know, but they would be huge. You know, we'd take like Chinese movie stars with literally sort of the Chinese equivalent of Instagram, you know, they'd have a billion followers. You know, it was like unbelievable. And yet I wouldn't have really have a clue who they were. And it was actually for me, it was a real kind of insight of, of how we all treat people differently with our filter once we know what they, you know, do as a job. And, you know, I'm the same. I can't help but being nervous when I, on running wild, on our Fox running wild, when I meet, you know, big superstars, I'm always nervous, you know, it's just like, I'm human, I get nervous. But when you're doing it with sort of Chinese ones, because I don't know them like that. I was maybe less nervous, but it's so interesting seeing how they carry themselves and how people react around them. And because I haven't got the filter, I look at it and I go, hold on, this is crazy. Like note to self, never start acting in a way that sets you important or be alert to the yes men that surround, surround people when they're famous. And, you know, it's been really fun and the Chinese ones are great. The Indian ones are great. But, um, but yeah, I like I say, I love it. I never take it for granted and huge privilege. What if you do like a president or a prime minister or someone that has to have security? Have you had many of those? Well, we did the president Obama one, but he was still, you know, sitting U.S. president. So, and, and as you know, normally we always say to these stars, just trust us, trust me, come on your own, leave the entourage behind, you're going to love it, trust the process, we'll keep you alive. Obviously, that wasn't going to kind of fly with, um, with, with, you know, a president who's still in office as such. So, and I remember our team saying when they were scouting the route, they, uh, with the Secret Service a week before they said, Bear, we've got like, you know, seven to 80 Secret Service with us on the ground, just scouting it, you know, and so it was an eye opener. And I think on the day we had that sort of number as a close team around him, we had helicopters every five minutes in the air, snipers in the mountains every, every mile, they even like dropped like Porter, like a Porter Lou, what do you call it? Porter potty? Yeah. Yeah. Every, you know, literally every like a couple of miles along this glass here in Alaska. And I remember him saying to me, he said, well, what, what's that? I said, well, that's the case. So you need a P and he goes, what's wrong in the bushes? And I said, exactly. That's what I've been saying. You go, we're using the bush. But so, but I remember him saying, you know, he said, well, what's that? Apart from the president and we did prime minister Modi of India. So he had his whole secret service as well. And we actually did then Zelensky in Ukraine for a different type of show. But obviously, you know, there's a whole bunch of security around that. But apart from that, and as you know, you come on your own, leave the entourage, trust the process. I don't always promise to return people without any scratches or scrapes or bruises, but we generally try and keep people alive. Yeah. Have you had like real fulfillment when finishing with someone because they did not believe in themselves even during the episode? And it's weird to call it an episode because I've done it twice now and it's, it's a whole two days. But on television, it's an hour. But during that two days, they feel like they can't do it yet. They still are able to achieve it. And at the end, there's a real pride. Has that happened with many celebrities? Yeah, I love it, Bobby. You asked such good questions. It's, it's so true. It's the beating heart of what makes the show special and beating heart of why I've always loved the outdoors. You know, we see total transformation of people every time. You know, it doesn't matter who you are. So like the world is going to beat you down a little bit and you're going to have to face some fears and you're going to have to work hard and dig deep and you're going to be cold and you're going to be wet and hungry. But at the end, there's always that light in their eye and they're like a super sense of empowerment that again, you can't cheat your way there. You can't buy yourself, buy your way there. No drug or anything is going to give you. It's different. This is like in here, like, like quiet confidence and pride. And to be honest, it's the main reason I do my job now. I mean, I, I love the show and I love our team, but really at the beating heart of what I love is just seeing people come alive when they, when they go through that sort of experience. And it's sort of, it's, I don't know, it's so great seeing these sort of superstars that you only ever see on red carpets looking amazing. And actually always when we pick them up at the start of running wild, they look like that. Super cool shades on looking slick. And then by the end, like, like I say, they're covered in mud, shivering, everything's ripped. But you know, the smile is like, and that light in the eye is just the magic. And it's the reason I do my job. Can you give me an example of one person that you were extremely proud of when it was over, because you felt real growth from within them as you were doing it? Yeah, I think on this season, like, you know, even Uma Thurman was so great. She was at the end of it. She was literally hands a loft going, this has been one of the best days of my life. We're going to do this again. I want to bring Maya Hawk, my daughter. She, she'd love it. Like with or without the cameras, we got to do more of this. And, and I love that. And even like, even like machine gun Kelly, M.G.K. who's so sort of quiet and, and he was sort of nervous beforehand and quite kind of in, you know, and, and at the end he was just had tears in his eyes. You know, he said, I just, I've got Norwegian, so much Norwegian heritage going through my, my blood and my family. And I wanted to come back to this area and connect with the land and that Viking spirit inside. And, and it's so great that he can do that. And, and, and it's, and it's sort of real and it's deep and it's, I know I love that sort of connection. It's why I always feel the friendships we make on Running Wild are wonderful. And they're lasting and they're different to, you know, if you do a movie with someone or you go on a chat show, you know, it's like, you and me have seen each other. It's in difficult moments where we're both pretty scared. And, and yet you do it side by side together and that's the power. What was crazy to me was the first time that I did the show, I was by myself and we went to Norway, you mentioned Norway and it was amazing. And what was cool was that the adventure was really great and eye opening for me and extremely difficult. But also the time that you and I got to spend together because we stay out. People think that there's no hotel. There's no, there's no, you hop in a car, you stay out there. It's as real as it could possibly be. People still don't realize, you know, I still get guests coming on the show and they go, shoot, it really is like there is no craft services. Yes. We really are sleeping in this game. We stayed out, but I really found like the fellowship of, you know, we built a little fire. We sat around, we cooked, we talked, you know, we got ready for the next day. Like I felt like that to me was as valuable as, as like the physical things that we were able to accomplish. Yeah, I think that's so true. And I hear that often. And, you know, again, there's no shortcut there. You know, if you just did that at the beginning, you sat around, you know, anyone can sit around a fire in their garden. It's going to be different. You've got to kind of go through a little bit first. You've got to look each other in the whites of the eyes and need each other and hold on to each other. Is a crossing that river and laugh at each other and fail a lot and keep going. And, and then you create bonds. I mean, that says, you know, the magic of the outdoors, it creates bonds like no others. It's why on the bigger expeditions of mine over the years, that those bonds become really deep. You live in a tent for three months with someone on Everest. You really know them, them heart and soul. But I love the connection on running wild like that. And often, you know, the stars and people like you, they say that at the campsite, even though the cameras kind of have gone and the cameras team, they go back to base, they get flown out and it just leaves you, me and we have a little mini camera we might use. But I think it's one of the special parts because then you can sort of relax and just, you talk about it so much. And, you know, I mean, that'd be a whole nother show talking about some of the non PC conversations. But I like it because it's a real stuff. You know, by the stage, you know each other and the gloves are off and everyone's going, oh my God, I had a nightmare with this person. But it's good fun. Let's take a quick pause for a message from our sponsor. And we're back on the Bobby cast. You talk about, uh, summiting Everest. I was reading a story the other day. I was looking at pictures how at when you get to the top, I don't know if this was the case with you. There's a line because there are people trying to do it. When you got to the top of Everest, was there a line? Well, no, we were there in 1928, you know, so it was like nobody is such tiny numbers. We're climbing it then. And, you know, we had, no, we were the only two, we were the first two that reached the top. That year we had four climbers lose their lives on this first attempt that went up. And then everyone else on the mountain who's sort of just behind them ended up coming off. And we, everyone was dealing with these, these fatalities and the disasters. And then we hung on and they, and the, the jet stream winds lifted and a few of us just went on and got lucky, you know, so in the year we were, those, those years it was so different. But, you know, I know those photos you're talking about, I've seen that in the press lots of the last few years of, you know, it is a bottleneck though. I kind of think sometimes it still gives a slightly kind of skewed view of it because you might have, you might have 150 climbers or whatever on it. And they're there for however many weeks, you know, six, seven weeks. And at the end they get, they're all, you know, there's only one, one ridge. That's not like there are a hundred ridges. You can each have your own ridge, you know, that gets to that mountain. That's the nature of a mountain. It gets smaller. So you do sometimes see those photos, but I still think it's a big old dangerous mountain. Still kills a lot of people. I mean, yeah, I was killing one in six when I was there and there's probably now maybe one in 15 or something now. But, you know, you can't take that amount of a granted. Full casting gets better. You know, gear gets better, but it's still a little wild and some predictable and people die still every year on that mountain. Did you do an episode with Alex Honnold? Am I, am I? Yeah, yeah, we did a couple of seasons ago. It was really fun. We did it in near where we live in Switzerland. And he was great, you know, it's the only guest I've ever had where like, you know, when we reached a rock face, it was like, here's the rope. Here you go. You lead it. I'll follow and be gentle. But what a great guy and such a wonderful heart and a great story. And, uh, and yeah, although he was kind of very out of his comfort zone at times as well, because I think you forget with sort of experts like that, even in the outdoors, you become a real expert in big wall climbing. But you know, like I do, we skydived in at the beginning with him. And he was like super nervous, absolutely sort of shaking in the back of the plane. And I loved him all the more for that because it's like, you're, you're, you're the bravest man I know, Alex. I'm so, I'm so happy to see that some things also get you nervous. And it's a reminder of life that whoever you are, even someone like him, like we all feel fear, you know, but the champions somehow find a way to keep facing it, keep doing it and find a way through it. And I love that. Was that a pre-production meeting of going, we really got to elevate for this guy because it seems like he has no fear. A little bit, but at the same time, you know, the world kind of does my job for me. You know, it's not all, you don't have to take everyone to the edge. You know, it's like, it's a journey. You're getting to know someone's story. And, but I always knew that I definitely, we'd find a really good rock face. I'd seen from the, from the air when we were scouting this route and I kind of thought, that would be really great to try and do. And it kind of looks on the edge of what I can do and he'll scamper up this thing. So I gave him the rope and I said, you lead, but be gentle. And, you know, and he starts up and the first bit was a little bit overhanging. So like first 10 feet. And then it sort of, you know, flattens out a little bit. So I couldn't actually see him after the first 10 feet and the rope just wasn't moving very far. And after about five minutes, I kind of shouted out, he must have been like 30, 20, 30 feet up. And I said, are you all right? Are you getting, is everything all right? And I just hear him shout down. He goes, yeah, this bit's a little tricky. I'm not going to lie. This bit's tricky, but hold on. Give me a few minutes. And I'm thinking, oh my God, I'm dead. But he got to the top. He set that anchor, you know, and I started to come up and there were definitely a few times I was going, Alex is going to need a tight line on this one. Can you, are you able to get life insurance? What's funny you ask that was actually somebody, somebody came up in the airport today, we literally just flown into the next place where we're filming and somebody at the airport said, I deal with life insurance for a big company. It's my card. How are you with your life insurance? And they'll rise with going to be honest, there's a nightmare. This is the most expensive thing on our production. And the problem is you become a victim of the show's, you know, profile, any success, like really counts against us. Because suddenly is it like, hold on, I've seen that show. We're not insuring this, but we have got it. I think it's, I think it's okay. I mean, I try not to, I don't know, I try not to think about that stuff. I've got a good team to worry about the life insurance. I keep focused on the important stuff, which is people like you. Your team is great. And they make at least me, my wife feel extremely safe, but they move around really well. And they move around in terrain really well, where I've worked on a bunch of television shows. Most camera guys aren't able to move like that. How do you find your crews? Well, first of all, they are the unsung hero in this whole journey. They are, they're incredible. They've been with me from the beginning, which actually, as you know, in the world of TV is pretty rare. You know, most of the time, camera crews and TV crews, super transient and they change. And, but we've had the same guys basically from day one. And it's one of the things I'm most proud about those friendships. We've done life together. And it's, it's like I said, it's one of the big motivations actually for me still, still working. I love those guys. They do everything we do for the, just so the viewers are aware, they do everything we do, but backwards because they're filming it, like moving backwards, carrying the heavy cameras, heavy backpacks. You know, everyone thinks the cameras have got lighter over the years. They've actually got heavier. So I still can't quite get my head around, but now because the lenses are so good, they're huge. They actually have to put weights on the back to counteract the lenses. I mean, these guys are incredible. And as you say, they move beautifully. And I think moving well in the mountains on difficult terrain and awkward rock and slippery rock, you know, is a real art. And I've really noticed it on running wild, you know, first straight off the bat, when, when the guest starts moving, I can instantly tell, you know, I can tell very quickly if they've done much of this sort of thing. And it really reminds me of how great and highly skilled and trained our crew are. And it's, it's a great thing to see. What I remember especially the Norway episode, because people have, I think, an unfair idea that again, people are throwing us clothes or food or a hotel. But I remember landing in Norway and we start, we're going across this very slick, like mountains, we're in fjords, but my boots got wet. And so we're going through water. And so my feet are wet and my socks. And I'm thinking, well, any moment now, someone's going to come in and toss me some new boots. Like we're going to stop. We're going to go sit on a stump. And I'm going to come any moment. Any moment. I'm going to have some new. And no, we rolled in wet boots and wet feet until the night. And we literally put them by the fire. People will ask me, you know, what it's so great though, it's so good because like, you know, when people get famous, people stop treating them differently. And it's like, you know, it's like, it's not a healthy dynamic. Because as you know, at home, nobody treats you like that. It's like, and humans tend to sort of push until somebody says, stop. And I see it often on this show. Like, you know, I mean, you were so great. You're so grounded and normally you don't laugh. And off we go. But sometimes I kind of see them looking like when their feet are instantly wet and something. I kind of see them half kind of looking around as if, are we going to? And I love it every time, isn't it? They never go, you know, we need, I need new boots. They always love it. They're always like, great. But it's like, they're always always that, or often that moment of like, really? We're in like, we're really doing this. We're really crossing this river. And you're really tying the rope off this cliff to this little spindly root. And it's like, yeah, but it's good. It's strong. I've done this all my life. And we're good. And I will often back it up with a second one, but it never needs it. You know, I do it because we're always safe. I put a second line on them, but it's like the roots always hold, or the, you know, the little rock thread reviews on a tiny little bit of whatever works. And that's a fun part of it again. It's like, you kind of wing it. And I think the guests again, love that dynamic at the end because it's what makes them feel proud of themselves. So this is legit, you know? What about your kids? Did they inherit the, I want to do, you know, adrenaline tight things from you? Well, first of all, they're better smart. They still have a better looking, stronger fitter, you know, in every way. And it's just true that three boys are wonderful. Jesse, age 22 now, he works with us every day. He films all the behind the scenes for the shows and for all the digital stuff. So for me, that's been just one of the great gifts in my life that I now like, he's beside me all the time. And to be honest, that gives me confidence and strength and happiness in my heart. So that's magical. Mom and Juice are a little bit younger, 20, and then Huckleberry 17. And, you know, they all love adventure in their own ways, but at the same time, they're not kind of caricatures of my life. You know, they're really not that there. You know, I have taken them all skydiving and paragliding and the odd mountain and stuff, but it's, they're not masses. They all like different things. Huckleberry loves, loves his tennis and the rugby. That's what he's into. And Mom and Juice, the middle one is a total one off. He loves, he's a trained butcher and he's joining the police. And, you know, he loves his traveling. And I don't know, I think as a parent, you can only just encourage your kids to find what they love and to be, try and be humble and kind on the journey and be a never give up. And the rest is detail. I certainly wouldn't encourage them to be mini clones of my stuff because I say that they're better, smarter. They're going to fight it. They're already finding their own path. And I'm super proud of that. Does Huckleberry think that like Roger Federer is cool? I watched the episode you guys did together. Is that cool to him? Yes, super cool. And actually, you know, Huckles is really quiet, really quite shy. Just a sweet, gentle heart. And so Roger's always going to be his guy. You know, he's, he's less into the match is more and the out there. He just, he loves Yannick's dinner, for example, you know, who's, I don't know if you know him, there's the number one at the moment, such a humble guy as well. And, but yeah, the Roger Federer was so fun to do. He's, to be honest, he was a real hero of mine. If I had to pick a running wild guest who were real icons for me over the years, apart from, of course, yourself, I would, you know, Julia Roberts growing up with so much of her sort of movies, but I would say in terms of heroes, sort of Roger was as a family with such tennis fans. So that was like super cool to be able to take him on one. Huckles was quite young then. He was probably like 10, but it wasn't wasted on him. He was still like, that's the coolest one you've done. If I remember correctly about that one, you guys were going down to Icewall with the, the Federer one. Is that right? Like we're just climbing down like ice with sticks. Like, do you do that ahead of time without him first? Uh, no, um, maybe I went down first on that. I mean, all I remember is he is quite technical using crampons on ice on steep ice waterfalls going up or down. Can't quite remember what we were doing, but like, like it takes some practice. It takes some, you know, you, you put somebody on day one on that. They're all over the place really because it's super awkward and your default balance is all wrong. And, and I said this to Roger, Roger, I said, just take your time. And I just remember like watching him doing it beside me, just thinking, wow, wow, this guy's got the balance of a bird. You know, he's literally like on his, on his front points, super balanced. So it's pretty cool to see. Yeah. We laughed a lot on that program. I mean, we, we had, we laughed a lot. It was fun. You know, he's actually quite a scaredy cat. It's quite fun. So he was going, bet, honestly, I'm like, I'm so bad with so much of this stuff on bad with heights and, and he couldn't like, we're trying to gut a fish and he couldn't get a hardly prod this thing. You know, and I think for me, running wilds where we can really laugh a lot. I mean, we laugh, especially with Caitlin on that one. We had such a laugh all together. And I love that dynamic because it makes it more and more fulfilled. Like just not work, you know, sometimes they're work, sometimes if it's really cold or heart and, and the guests maybe it's sort of struggling, you're going to really got to help them over some things. You're into work guide mode, but like a few sometimes that are just really fun. I love that. And, and I think Rogers and yours was like that. And Channing second time, Ryan Rob is definitely like that. I would say, um, Coleman Domingo actually on this season was just a great light as well. Good fun. So when they come, they're great. One final celebrity question. Who did you work with? You knew of them. They're wildly famous, but then you ended up really liking them as a person. Um, I would say, you know, I'm always kind of, I'm always nervous saying I'm great friends with someone because sometimes I feel maybe I'm, I think I'm better friends with them than they might think they are with me. So I'm not one of these people that kind of says all these A-list stars are great friends, but I would say that'd been a handful over the years. I would say Bradley Cooper's has become a friend. He's come to stay with us a bunch of times on our little island up in Wales in the UK with Leah, his daughter. And, and, um, we always sort of tease him that his, his time he comes to spend with us is his grounding time of the year. You know, we've got to do his own washing and there's, there's no one there to look after him and it's a bit off grid and our house is pretty small. Um, but he's so funny. He's the most normal gentle, humble guy you'll meet and, and that's been great. Um, and so I would say him, but, and then a few others, maybe some of the less famous ones. I don't know, you know, you, me, I like our connection. And I just, I don't have like loads and loads of friends in my life. I'd say out of running wild, I've got sort of probably, you know, five or six that I keep in good touch with and another five that we'd always have each other's back, which is kind of like us. And, and I really, I love that you only need a few in life, don't you? The Bobby cast will be right back. This is the Bobby cast. Okay. Final question. Give me some, some, some dad advice. I'm brand new. Well, first of all, you're going to be amazing. The fact that you even asking a new cast and like you're going to, you're going to be, you're going to be great. And, and I really kind of, I'm not one of these people who kind of thinks they have it all right. I've, I've, I've made many mistakes, I'm sure over the years, but at the end of it, I think I have really always known that the only wealth we ever have can be measured in the quality of our relationships with our spouse and our kids and our close friends. You know, the rest is detail. I've met so many people like you over the years, you know, billionaires with broken relationships and their kids hate them. You know, you're not a rich guy. That does not make you a rich guy. And, and therefore guarded early and the little things are the big things and put them first. You know, we all have busy lives at work and many demands left right in center, but prioritized them. And you're just going to do a wonderful, beautiful job. I'm excited to see Billy grow up and she's going into just the most wonderful home with you two. I know, you know, you've both got great hearts and the world's going to be better off and needs more parents like you. So be encouraged. The best advice, love their mother. Love their mother. As kids will, they say, they always go example, example, example. And kids don't listen to what we say. They look at what we do. Bear, amazing seeing you. Everybody. Bear Girls is running wild on Fox. I could tell you firsthand, it's real. I can also tell you, Bear is even better in person than he is in your quite lovely on television. So, you know, I feel like with you, I'm the guy who thinks you're my better friend than you actually do. You know how you were talking about, you feel that way. I'm like, Bear's my best friend. That's my best friend. No, I might, I listen on there as well. And I love it when we take to the New York various things. Oh, by the way, I forgot to say, will you do me a favor? Will you, I don't know if you've seen my, my book, Greatest Story Ever Told. Yes. You have a read of it. I just think, I actually was thinking of you two the other like a couple of weeks ago with this. I just know this book will touch you and it's super quick, easy read, but it's the best thing I've ever done. I'd give up every Emmy, every, all of that, every, every summit and everything to have done this. And I would say my work life has been the most profound thing I've ever done in the sense that it is changing lives all day. I've never experienced anything like this before in my work life. So I'd love to hear, I love you guys to read it and I'd love to hear how you feel about it. Why is this different? Because it's, it's all of our stories. It's all of our stories. It, it, it like helps people find home. You know, it's like anything that helps bring people together and give light and strength to their hearts, you know, and religion is such a difficult word and thing for people. And my experience of religion was always very kind of frosty and judgmental and difficult and irrelevant and not helpful for my life. And it's been such a life journey to realize the heart of, of Christ is totally the opposite. And there's a most freeing family centered like, like strength for life, strength for the battles, friendships, risk, sacrifice, courage, you know, all the things that we love, but I never associated with the story of Christ. And it's been a lifetime journey to get to the heart of it. It's why I wanted to write this book of basically saying, of saying, look at the real story, you know, because we all know stories about, about Jesus of like, you know, in the nativity or the good Samaritan. And they never, they never connected with me. And then seeing this whole thing together, and I just told it like it is without any of the religious stuff that for 2000 years we've put into it, to try to get to the heart of why was everybody you encountered this guy changed and made better. And why did the elite fear him so much? And it's just such an interesting time to be speaking into this sort of thing at a time of division when we need unity and peacemakers. So it's touching people at every faith, every culture, I get atheists and Muslims and Jewish people, all sorts. And they all write to me every day just going out, no idea that this is a real story. So like I say, best thing I've ever done, one of the hardest, but the best thing. Why would you do this book then? It's again, it's a bit different. What inspired you to start this because writing a book is not something you can do in a day? No, because it's like you just learned in life, I'm not scared any longer to follow my heart. And it was just screaming in my heart. It was like nobody's ever done this. Nobody's ever written the story of Christ as like a thriller, but theologically 100% accurate. I've done this partnership with the chosen TV show, where we did like a running wild bespoke season. I took a lot of their characters. Do you know the chosen you heard of that? I do. Yeah. So I took a lot of, I took like Jesus, John Lennon, Rumi and all their people on the mini running wild journeys. And it gave me great access to their theological teams and such a work with them. And just all these things came together at the right time. And it was just like, I couldn't sleep. It was like, bear, clear the decks, write this, you know, you're going to do this. And it was so daunting, so daunting. But like now it's out then it went straight to number one. It's been in the top 10 for 20 weeks now. It's been like I said, the best thing about Madonna had no idea the effect it had. And it's like if, if the running wild and all the other TV shows are giving me a platform for anything, this is what I feel it's for, because it's a bad adventure at heart as well. It's how we live our lives, you know, and it's that adventure state of mind. So yeah, that's why. Great to see you really seriously. I hope you stay safe and I hope the show does exactly what you want. And I'm super excited to hear the book is doing precisely what you wanted. So always, and I'll tell Caitlyn, she sends her best, I'll tell her you send it back. Oh, please do. Yeah, give her a big, big hug and a little billy. So proud of you. You keep shining bright. Don't listen to the dream sealers, keep going brother. You are the best. All right, bear, see you buddy. Take care. Thanks for listening to a Bobby Cast production. This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.